Bill Belichick, left, and Greg Schiano faced each other in a preseason game last month and will meet again Sunday. / Stew Milne, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve Politi, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Steve Politi, Special for USA TODAY Sports

The coaching legend waiting near the Rutgers team buses looked familiar, but he seemed so out of place that a group of cheerleaders hesitated before asking to take a picture with him.

This was in Louisville on a Friday night in October 2011, far from the NFL spotlight that usually follows him. What was Bill Belichick doing here, of all places?

To an outsider, it had to seem odd: A three-time Super Bowl-winning coach taking a road trip with a middling college football program. But to everyone around Rutgers, it was hardly unusual.

Belichick had become a regular at practices and in the hallways of the football building in Piscataway, N.J. At first, he made the trips to see his son Steve, who was a walk-on deep snapper for the Scarlet Knights.

But soon, the New England Patriots coach - known as one of the most guarded men in a profession filled with them - became good friends with Greg Schiano, the coach who took Rutgers from doormat status to respectability.

Two rigid, controlling coaches, not known for making friends in the business, had become unlikely friends. Maybe it's because they see so much of themselves in the other.

"I think he's an outstanding coach," Belichick said of Schiano on Wednesday. "He does a great job. He understands the game. He prepares his team well. He's very thoughtful and creative and is always looking for a better way to do things, always looking to improve, and always looking for a better way to coach, or prepare, or motivate, or whatever it is."

Thanks greatly to Belichick's recommendation, Schiano is coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Sunday at New England - desperate for a win - the Bucs play the Patriots.

Schiano is facing his share of troubles - including a feud with quarterback Josh Freeman; charges from kicker Lawrence Tynes that the team mishandled his MRSA infection; and griping about defensive schemes and hard-and-fast team rules from all-pro cornerback Darrelle Revis that was followed by a meeting with Schiano on Tuesday. So it's ironic that the guy who helped Schiano get his job could, by beating him, put his job in deeper jeopardy. A loss would drop the Bucs to 0-3.

But Belichick isn't wavering in his belief that Schiano is a good coach. His call to the Bucs owners helped Schiano land the job after he had posted a 68-67 record in 11 seasons at the college level. Schiano built the Rutgers program from scratch but never won a conference title.

"I think he's very well-respected amongst his players," Belichick said. "I know that my son had a great experience there. ... We've had quite a few (Rutgers players) or at least have talked to other guys - the Ray Rices, guys like that that have gone on to other teams as part of the draft process - the respect and credit they give to him is extremely high."

And Schiano even has the respect of another Patriots icon.

"I've just enjoyed watching him from afar," quarterback Tom Brady said. "We've had a lot of guys come from his program over the years."

'COMMON PASSION'

Even with the two men competing for the same goal, the relationship has grown. The Buccaneers and the Patriots shared the field for joint practices in August before a preseason game, even though they were scheduled to face each other a month later when it counted.

ey talked about everything from the simplest of drills to personnel decisions before roster cuts, and with a Patriots roster that once included eight former Scarlet Knights, it's clear the give-and-take was not entirely one sided.

"I think the common passion for the game of football and what it's done in our lives is what brought us together," Schiano said Wednesday.

Still, the relationship is unusual by NFL standards.

"I marveled at (it)," said Mike Emanuel, a longtime Schiano friend who attended those practices and meetings in Foxborough, Mass. "I noticed during the practices they were always having conversations. The fact that Belichick is so tight-lipped, that was strange. Even during that (preseason) game, I'm not sure it wasn't scripted or something."

Sunday, for the first time, the friends will face each other in a regular-season game when the Patriots (2-0) host the Bucs. That the visiting team and its coach face an almost desperate situation is one of the most intriguing story lines for Week 3.

After winning six of his first 10 games with Tampa Bay, Schiano has lost seven of eight dating to last season - a record that ties the Jacksonville Jaguars for the worst in the NFL during that span. Both losses this season have come on last-second field goals after costly gaffes.

For the coach who has modeled his approach after Belichick, it's hard not to wonder if his results will not mirror his mentor's success in New England, but his four losing seasons in five years with the Cleveland Browns.

"It squarely is on me," Schiano said this week. "I'm the head football coach, and when we're not doing things offensively that we're capable of doing â?¦ we have to look at what we're doing coaching-wise, what we're doing execution-wise, and, again, it falls on me."

GROWING RELATIONSHIP

Belichick and Schiano knew each other but weren't particularly close when Steve Belichick joined the Rutgers lacrosse team in 2008. Suddenly, his famous father had a reason to make frequent trips to Piscataway, and Schiano asked Belichick to address his team in October 2008.

"The first time I saw him in the building, I was like, 'Wow! That's insane!'" said Eric LeGrand, the ex-Rutgers player who was paralyzed making a tackle in 2010. "He would pop his head into meeting rooms, and everyone would get real quiet."

Bucs rookie tight end Tim Wright played for Schiano at Rutgers and has seen how the coaches' relationship has blossomed.

"Growing up as a freshman and a sophomore in college, when we had study hall â?¦ walking by one of the rooms and seeing Coach Belichick in there, I was just shocked," Wright said. "They have a lot of similar ways in how they run the structure of their teams. They have similar mind-sets. I think they both go hand in hand. They're both great coaches. That's all I've been seeing since I've been at Rutgers and since I've been in the NFL."

It was when Steve Belichick walked onto the football team as a deep snapper in 2011 that his father and Schiano became closer. Schiano would travel to Foxborough to observe Patriots minicamps while Belichick traveled on the team charter to that game in Louisville and attended practice.

"They're both extremely detail-oriented," said Emanuel, who handled Schiano's headsets on the sideline and had Steve Belichick as a student in his forensic science class. "Schiano is a little more open with the media, but the way they schedule their practices is very similar."

The latter isn't surprising, especially since the coaches have compared notes. Many around the NFL were surprised when Schiano and six of his coaches traveled to Foxborough in May to meet Belichick and his staff and learn how the Patriots set up their calendar and other logistics.

It is not unusual for Belichick to share his expertise with college coaches - Ohio State's Urban Meyer and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly have leaned on him - but to do the same for an NFL rival?

When asked what he liked about Schiano as a coach to make him be so open, Belichick answered, "Really everything."

"I spent quite a bit of time with him when he was at Rutgers," he said. "He develops players well. He has good schemes. He's a good football mind, evaluates talent well. I've talked to him from time to time since he's been in this league, and he's been helpful on a lot of things."

What happens in New England on Sunday could help determine Schiano's immediate future. But no matter what, it's clear that the man on the opposing sideline will have his back.